Drawing As An Activity

Drawing is an activity that has been a part of human culture for many centuries. Even pre historic men engaged in that activity, and it has always been considered as one of the main cultural expressions there are.

Drawing started on cavern walls, and it depicted life in those times. Hunting and surviving were common themes back then and drawing materials were simple, consisting of a mixture of vegetable liquids applied by hand or rudimentary instruments. Some of these murals have survived to this day, and they’ve been a great help in understanding how man lived and survived back then.

As time advanced, drawing became a religious and political icon. Priests and leaders used it to represent ideas, concepts, and power. Special drawings were made in people’s clothes to identify them with an organization or religion. And even within those, different drawings would symbolize a different status class or level. Some of these powerful icons survive to this day, like the star of David, the moon and the star, and the Christian cross. It’s remarkable how a few traces can hold so much history and meaning and create the most passionate reactions, both in favor and against.

Nowadays, drawing is still part of our culture. However, as with most things in human life, technology has substituted a lot of human hand tasks. Great movies like Shrek and Monsters Inc. are done with computer animation, replacing frame by frame drawing techniques. In this way, not only a single person can create as many drawings as a team would in the past, but it also lets him or her to use applied math in order to keep the diverse elements in the drawings at scale, as well as to rotate the image or picture it from any angle.

In addition, he or she can also zoom in and out, according to the specific needs of the film or cartoon that is being made. This allows for a much bigger versatility, as directors and writers have a wider range of options for filming. Moreover, since each detail has to be entered in the computer only once, much more details can be inserted in an image, and they can even be given properties. For example, a hair in a drawing can be programmed to move and fall, whereas a horn is programmed to stay still. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Drawing and technology are sure to prepare us some surprises in the future.